


Entanglement

by Kitera_Matar



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Alternate Universe - Space, Crystals, Dialogue Light, Fanart, Fighter Pilots, Fluff, KakaIru Mini Bang 2020, M/M, Slow Burn, Soulmates, Spaceships, quantum entanglement, teacher
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:33:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24862351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitera_Matar/pseuds/Kitera_Matar
Summary: Our old world is gone.  The last remnants of humanity have boarded the various flotillas of space ships and are now traveling towards new worlds and realms.  The logic crystals allow for instant communication, but that seems to only put more of the emptiness of space between people.  But in an age of living in crowded corridors with the endless empty black crushing against the metal husks – can two people learn to come together across the cosmos and accept and understand the tie that seems to bind them?  Especially when one is a jaded fighter pilot and the other a lonely crèche worker?Written for the KakaIru Mini Bang 2020!  Kakashi and Iruka Soul Mate Theme – SPACE STYLE!
Relationships: Dai-nana-han | Team 7 & Hatake Kakashi, Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka, Mizuki & Umino Iruka, Umino Iruka & Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 10
Kudos: 52
Collections: KakaIru Mini Bang 2020





	Entanglement

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Electronic Memory of a Late-Night Smile](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19068403) by [decaf_kitty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/decaf_kitty/pseuds/decaf_kitty). 



> Inspirations: (without these, I would not have written this. <3)  
> Enderverse Novels by Orson Scott Card  
> Crystal Singer by Anne McCaffrey  
> The Expanse/ Firefly/ The 100/ Dr. Who (space wale episode)  
> The Electronic Memory of a Late-Night Smile By: decaf_kitty  
> Elfquest (for the art)
> 
> Thanks to my Beta reader Reena for putting up with me and reading and redlining this for me multiple times and putting up with my insanity when this isn’t even her favorite pairing. She also made a comment about how this is ‘a solid story with very little dialogue’. Whiiiiiich is TRUTH. Next one I’ll attempt more dialogue and less just narration. Seriously. I think this story has like 5 lines of dialogue other than the Epilogue-ish section which has like 20. I get wordy tho... (..and am STILL looking for a good way to distinguish thought from speech from narration..) This started as an excuse to see the two of them kiss in space. It then got tangled up with the idea of crystals from Crystal Singer and downloading information into natural items from the Enderverse. Soon the 3,000 words became 8,000 of world building and background translations. Then came the re-reading this like a gazillion times to fix my writing XP – it’s seriously been a long time since I’ve written. *shrug* I had fun writing and drawing for it! Hope you have fun with it too! *^_^*
> 
> (My head hurts from trying to figure out how to post this with the correct formatting from Microsoft Word... I give up. HTML and RTF - you've won this round. I managed to get the italics and the picture in tho - so I'm happy. *shrug* I'll delve into this more later. Sorry the picture is HUGE.)

.-~o~0~o~-.

The human race had left the wreckage that was once Earth almost a millennium ago. Earth was broken, used up, and destroyed by humanity. The remainder of the human race was packed into great space ships and sent in various directions to give humanity the best chance at survival. Luckily, only 50 years before Earth was left behind, the mixture of quantum entanglement and logic crystals had born fruit. The great communication crystals were born, and with humanity able to keep up communication over the vast distances of space – the last hurdle was cleared and the space ships were finally launched.

While humanity was now spread out over the many flotillas of ships, they were divided into 10 groups to head in different directions. Everyone had a list of potentially viable planets to head towards, but who would make it was unknown. Each country’s flotilla had two military ships placed with them for protection and peace-keeping. Due to their advanced stealth technology, everyone just called the military vessels The Hidden Villages and their fighters were called Shinobi. Humanity as a whole is slow to learn their lessons and some ships broke off of their Country’s flotilla and fought against whatever ships they thought they could take down. But the shinobi of the stars proved their worth time and time again against Missing Ships and enemy Country Flotillas.

The human race had kept the 60 min/ 24 hr/ 7 week/ 365 year time breakdown - you had to stick to some sort of time system when every planet and ship was in a different solar system and old habits die hard. With the discovery of more logic crystals that could be mined in an asteroid belt, the Fire Country Government decreed that it was mandatory for all citizens to have a logic crystal installed in their dominant wrist as soon as they reached the age of 10. The logic crystal had been used as ID, credit counter, and location tracker for all citizens for almost a hundred years now. And while there were nicer models that included more features than the basic free ones that were provided to all - unless you were in the government, most people didn’t have the income to get them. However, the black market rose right along with the technology, and switch-outs and fakes were not unknown as the logic crystals were thoroughly understood, used, and abused.

.-~o~0~o~-.

Kakashi got his logic crystal installed at the young age of 5. His early admittance into the military program at age 4 put him in the limelight and on the fast track for Command. Therefore it was easy to get him dispensation at the mere age of 5 for an upper scale model. In short – the military needed the access to him; communication, location, tracking, and monitoring as well as all the basic features. 

Kakashi was born on Hidden Village ship Konohagakure, commonly known as The Konoha. His father had been a genius and a general so Kakashi was watched closely from a young age. His genius was carefully noted and cultivated. However, while his home base was Konohagakure, he hadn’t actually been on The Konoha since he was 4. He had been whisked off to the Military Academy. Which, given his bad memories of finding his father lying dead in a pool of his own congealed blood after a horribly failed mission, Kakashi was just fine with. 

After a recent run-in with The Iwagakure Hidden Village ship from the Earth Country Flotilla, the Torture and Interrogation Force (or T&I as it was commonly called) had predicted a war with Earth Country in 5 years. So the military academy had beefed up in response. They searched harder for applicants and pushed the current ones farther than they had in decades. Therefore, it was no surprise when Kakashi was rushed through the program and given every accommodation. He proved was a genius child by constantly being leaps and bounds beyond those who were his senior in age. His squad was even placed under the famous Minato. 

Kakashi rose quickly through the ranks, spending more time in a command or pilot seat than he spent in even his own bunk. By age 5 Kakashi was a top fighter pilot and graduated from the Academy in record time, just one year. By 6 he was promoted to Command School, and was leading a platoon of the Jonin Class Fighter Ships by age 7. By the time Kakashi had turned 10, the Third Great War had officially begun. And while the Three Great General’s chairs were already customized seats, one of them was customized further for Kakashi while at the young age of 11 he helped direct the war on the Rock-Heads.

He held command alongside his old leader Minato and the legendary admiral Jiraya. The war did not end until he was 13. He had lost his original squad team members right near the end of the war and his heart never recovered from those losses even while he had his new robotic eye to make sure he never forgot his old teammates. He stepped down from General at the end of the war and focused on other tasks. Kakashi had been integrated into the ANBU special ops at 12, but with the war waging was able to do very little integrating into the Special Ops. Now that he was no longer a Commander, he was rising quickly in the ranks of ANBU where he dedicated all of his time.

Less than four months away from his 14th birthday was a day Kakashi would never forget. On May 26 something within him.. _changed_. There was no other way to describe it. The crystal in his wrist seemed to light up. And while he knew with his mind that the crystal had not changed physically and still worked perfectly fine - there now seemed to be a pulling.. resonating.. sensing? It was too hard to understand, much less explain. And explain he did try to the ANBU medic Tsunade. She folded her arms across her large bosom and gave him the eyebrow quirk that he knew meant she didn’t want to disregard his instincts, but also she had no basis to believe what he felt was anything more than psychosomatic. It didn’t change the fact that on Kakashi’s flight missions, he had become a much better fighter pilot because he seemed to always have a lodestone tugging at his left wrist giving him an anchor in the spinning black void.

It took him about a grand total of a week to realize that the tugging was in the direction of Konohagakure. After exhausting all resources he finally shrugged and chalked it up to some residual tie to his birthship. He continued on his missions; singly, in three man-cells, or by directing large groups of fighter forces both within ANBU and the Jonin level Shinobi class. He knew his talents and he pushed his abilities – he was a weapon for Fire Country and he fulfilled his tasks to the limits of his abilities. 

But everyone has their vices. Kakashi had only ever known War and being a Shinobi - he was a blank slate for all the rest of what life had to offer. Then the old white haired Admiral Jiraya had turned Kakashi onto the salacious series of novels he was writing on the side. For a young boy who knew more death than most adults, the stories gave him insight into people, love, and everyday life. From that point on Kakashi kept a running audiobook of the series going using his special earring storage crystal that he had downloaded the entire series onto and linked to his logic crystal. When he had the time he could devote to reading, he would display the book within his robotic Sharingan eye. And when he had his rare moments of downtime back at base, he would read his precious set of rare paper novels that he never took out into danger. And no one was going to fault him his proclivities while he kept winning them the battles and wars.

When he was just over a month away from turning 14 the red supergiant star Kurama had gone supernova just as the Fire Country Flotilla was passing. Kakashi had just returned home to Konohagakure for the first time in a decade. He was excited to see Minato. After the Third War clean-up had ended, both Minato and Jiraya had also stepped down from the Generals chairs and now Minato was due to become next Hokage of Konohagakure. Minato had called in a favor and placed Kakashi on his wife, Kushina’s, guard detail for the last nine months while she had been pregnant. But now Kushina and her medic, Tsunade, were due to come back to The Konoha for the birth of the child. 

Guard detail was definitely below Kakashi’s talents, but Kakashi had made some reckless choices and his old squad leader worried about Kakashi since he had lost the rest of his original genin team tying him to humanity. Minato had used up many favors to get Kakashi standing by Kushina who had gone to be close to Tsunade for the majority of her first pregnancy. Minato did his best to bring the icy and guarded but brilliant warrior child into his and Kushina’s warm little family – but Kakashi was nothing if not stubborn. Kakashi had done his job well, but his heart remained behind a thick blockade. Now that her pregnancy was due soon, Kushina was traveling back to The Konoha. Kakashi had checked the ship out himself to make sure it was safe before they launched from the floating med bay they had been hiding in. And so Kakashi was on his way home for the first time in 10 years.

Kakashi noticed the lodestone’s pulling getting stronger the closer he got to The Konoha, but when they crossed over into Konoha’s air space, he had to pause for a second and shake his head to get rid of a strange dizzy spell. It passed quickly enough and the scan he ran on himself came back normal. Kushina’s contractions had already begun so as soon as they landed, Kakashi quickly escorted Kushina and Tsunade to the Med Bay beneath the command center. He left Kushina in Tsunade’s capable hands and went to go check in with his own ANBU forces. He would come back later when the child was born and Minato was there. During the course of the day Kakashi received a message from Minato telling him of the successful birth of his baby boy, Naruto. Kakashi spent a precious moment between meetings to congratulate his old leader and agreed to come by that evening to meet the newest addition to the family. When Kakashi saw Tsunade later she told him that the new family was fine and resting.

When Kurama went supernova, the ship should have been fine, they had made all the right course corrections and shield protections, but something had gone seriously wrong. Kakashi was in a meeting with Tsunade and other ANBU officers when it was interrupted to inform them of the sabotage leading to an impending disaster. Kakashi instantly began to rush through the ship to get to the closest thing that he had to a family. He didn’t realize until that moment just how much the new trio had taken root in the scorched earth of his heart that his original genin team had left behind. He was grateful for the instant recall of the ship’s layout from his Sharingan eye as he rushed through The Konoha. 

But then all of the sudden he came to a grinding halt at an intersection - he had felt his wrist – spark… resonate.. tug? It had been lightly pulling at him all day from various directions, but this was much stronger and more insistent. He spent a whole five seconds standing still at the cross in the tunnels, debating whether to follow his logic crystal to the lodestone that had anchored him for months or to go in the other direction to where he knew his mentor, his wife, and their newborn child were. 

In the end there was no other option he could have chosen.

But even while he chose duty over curiosity, he never reached the newly expanded family. The command half of the ship was destroyed. Kakashi’s half of the ship was locked up tight against air leaks and left drifting through space while his mentor and his wife died on the half of the ship that was destroyed. Somehow the couple had managed to find a small escape pod and their child was found floating in space six hours later. Naruto was instantly placed in protective services and flagged for possible early admittance into the Military Academy with his lineage. The barge ships had all been recalled and dragged The Konoha to a nearby asteroid belt and the entire populace began the process of rebuilding the broken Konohagakure.

Kakashi could not bring himself to see the result of Minato and Kushina’s love by visiting Naruto. Instead he set out with ANBU almost immediately. The devastation that The Konoha had experienced just meant that they were floating ducks to the other enemy ships with only one hidden village left and a large Fire Country Flotilla to protect. Kakashi had noticed the tugging on his wrist strengthening at various times throughout his brief stay on Konohagakure – but his mind was in a fog for several days after the death of his mentor. And when it cleared he never had the time to explore the strange pull further with all the planning sessions of how best to protect the Fire Country with their limited resources. It was only much later that they found out that a renegade Shinobi named Tobi had sabotaged them. 

He finally brushed the incessant tugging off as The Konoha being his lodestone and therefore the tugging changing as he moved throughout the ship. He had his hands full with ANBU and he knew better than to say a word about his odd logic crystal to anyone, even to bring it back up to Tsunade who was helping set up a temporary Med Unit as well as helping the old Hokage rally The Konoha and the Fire Country flotilla.

And so Kakashi’s brief nine days on board Konohagakure after almost 10 years away quickly came to an end. Every star system he went to he had to re-adjust his inner compass and the new location of his lodestone. He now oriented his direction with the pull at his wrist. It always took him a few days to adjust to the new cardinal direction - but he managed quickly enough – he was a genius after all.

.-~o~0~o~-.

Iruka on the other hand had never known a life without the pull. As soon as he was 10 and the basic logic crystal was installed on his right wrist, he felt the crystal warm up and give off a small resonance that seemed to pull at him. He had tried to ask about it, but the tech was tired, clearly overworked, and chalked the whole thing up to insertion quivers or possibly a faulty crystal. He said it would pass and if it didn’t, to come back in 10 days.

It never went away, but Iruka never came back.

The tug always seemed to be coming from one direction, and Iruka finally figured it was his body aligning with some sort of cardinal direction and gave up trying to figure out if what he felt was abnormal, much less why it was the way it was. Then one day a few months later it seemed to be stronger. He was distracted for a solid week as the pull grew and the resonance made his skin tingle. Then, one day the pull changed drastically and he could no longer ignore it.

The pull seemed to come from all over and was strong to the point of distraction. Iruka had a pretty set schedule - even if he regularly deviated from his appointed corridors to play his latest pranks. But that day the pull seemed to move constantly and come from all different directions around Iruka. He woke up to the pull directing his gaze upward, an hour later he found himself giving the floor a brief glaze with his fingers as he pulled on his boots, then at lunch the tug kept his gaze drifting to the left.

Then Kurama went supernova that evening. They had of course seen that the supergiant was close to imploding, but the populace was assured that all precautions had been made and they shouldn’t be in any danger. But as soon as the warning lights went off, Iruka had run after his parents who were on the peace-keeping Shinobi force. When he had finally found them they had shoved him through a service hatch and he had to watch as their half of the ship broke away and fell into the supernova. He had cried and pounded his fists bloody on the porthole as he screamed at the supernova that had taken his family from him. In his grief he did not notice the strong pull as he raced for his parents or the feedback loop of grief and anger through his crystal as he crumpled onto the floor beneath the porthole.

Iruka spent that next week in a daze. He was placed in Protective Services and spent his week trying to adjust to his new life in the orphanage. He had a small boy named Naruto thrust into his arms and told that they needed all the help they could get with how shorthanded they were and being filled to capacity and over. Little did Iruka know how that one rushed act would change his life forever. 

Just over a week later the pull changed again back to a steady placement and a low dull thrum. This time it was pulling in the direction of the far top corner of his new shared bedroom. A few months later it came from below the cleansing cubicle. For years, it continued on like that - every few months changing location. Iruka noticed the change in the tug like he noticed the solar systems they passed by, a brief amazed wonder and then shuffling the thought to the back of his mind and pushing on with his every day duties. His time in the orphanage had changed him from his trickster ways and he wanted to be a Crèche Teacher. But he needed to reach the Chunin leadership level in order to attain his dream. In the meantime, he always had Naruto as the two had been attached at the hip since the Kurama Disaster. It had taken away his parents, but it had given him a brother. 

.-~o~0~o~-.

Kakashi curled up into his seat a little more. It had been six years since the Kurama Disaster and he was tired of this long haul mission after Danzo and his secret shinobi force Root. Kakashi had already been hiding behind this moon for a week and had at least two more weeks of spying on the cretin’s secret force. Kakashi was now 20 and still had only ever known war and the life of a spy and assassin. But his lodestone was still his anchor - that was the only other constant in his life. 

He fiddled with the controls to make sure his go-to drone PAKUN D06 was working correctly. In the meantime, he reviewed the information files he had on Danzo as he plotted his next scouting foray once the third moon of this planet was in the perfect position to hide his flight path. While stealth technology was good, the methods of detecting it arose right alongside – so Kakashi found that common sense and tactical knowledge generally paid out better returns in the long run.

While the cabin was plenty warm, Kakashi remained huddled into his suit. The effect of seeing the cold blackness out of the window never ceased to give him chills at times like these – when he was alone and waiting with too many thoughts running through his head.

He thought of Obito and Rin. His original team - gone. Obito killed in the same station battle raid that had caused Kakashi to lose his left eye. They had been headed to take out the command bridge; but Rin got caught, Obito got heated, and Kakashi got sloppy. Kakashi lost an eye and Obito lost his life. As Obito lay there with his life draining out between Kakashi’s fingers, Obito made Rin remove the latest and greatest electronic crimson eye for Kakashi to use. It had been a gift from Obito’s family on his promotion to genin and was a one of a kind.

Kakashi closed the lid on his Sharingan eye as the grief threatened to overwhelm him. Obito’s mechanical skills, Rin’s medical knowledge, and Kakashi’s genius hadn’t been enough to get them out successfully. With the superior design of the Sharingan and Rin’s medic skills, it was quick work for Rin to install the eye into Kakashi. But Rin and he had to move on and leave the silent Obito behind. Then the station had been fired on and the compartment Obito had been in was hit - the contents were instantly sucked into space. Obito had been floated and would never have the state funeral he deserved.

Then Rin and Kakashi had taken to their skirmish ships. While en route, Rin had discovered hers had been tampered with too late - or too early depending upon your point of view. If she had taken her small skirmish ship back to the Hidden Village, it would have allowed their enemies a way into their security network. Not only would they have downloaded the entire database, but the bomb that was set would have destroyed the ship. Rin was locked in her skirmish ship, unable to escape or eject, and she couldn’t alter course from The Konoha. She was their medic, not their mech expert. That had been Obito. She simply didn’t have the skills or the time to extradite herself. Kakashi had begged her to wait. He was a genius after all - they could figure it out in time. But then Rin had taken the decision from him when she sacrificed herself by flying into his fire against the enemy. Her final goodbyes over the crystal would echo forever through his mind.

After that, Kakashi was never the same. He had gone off the rails a bit. He could admit that now. Minato had tried to pull him back to reality by putting him on his wife’s security squad. And it had worked to a certain extent. It had focused Kakashi back on humanity and what love and family could be. His arrogance and certainty from his early years had changed to cold anger after the death of Obito and Rin. Then came Kushina with her mirth and pregnant belly and dreams; and his anger had died down allowing the grief to settle into his bones. Kushina hadn’t managed to give him hope for himself, but it had renewed his hopes for those around him. It also made him much more cautious and aware. This had the effect of turning him more deadly, but also more alone than ever before.

So at times like this, on solo missions with too much down time between actions, Kakashi’s thoughts tended towards the maudlin. Wondering what Obito and Rin would look like now. Wondering what life would be like if they were on this mission with him instead of him being alone. He worked with the other ANBU. He had to. But he never liked it and tried to keep to himself as much as possible, solo missions or command center situations. He had their respect, but friendship was a rarity. Only a few had come close to what he would term a friend. And so here he was, sitting at the edge of known space, alone and cold. As soon as he was back on the satellite barracks station, he would visit the memorial there once again and talk to his dead partners. The anniversary was coming up, and he always tried to be free from missions on that day to drown himself in his memories and sorrows.

And that was when the feeling washed over him. Pure unadulterated _joy_! The feeling of accomplishment, acceptance, and security nearly had him gasping and breathing between his knees as the feelings raced through him and set his soul on fire. As it was, he slammed his head back against the headrest in an urge to clear his head. He pressed at the logic crystal that hovered just under the skin of his wrist as his breathing came in quick staccato gasps. The tugging that was always there felt stronger. Drawing him towards The Konoha. Towards _home._

But these emotions, this had to have come from the communication aspect of the crystal. He hadn’t gotten a new model lately, was he somehow tapping into someone else communications? Logic crystals didn’t get crossed wires like the ancient communication devices. The crystals were the most secure form of communication since they were tied intrinsically into a person and the other crystals. The crystalline communication was as strong as your mind was. You had to think hard to send clear words and communication. But the logic crystals didn’t allow unwanted communication or a transfer of feelings like that. Every once in a while some feelings came through, but it was just a light coloring to the words - and even that was only with someone you knew very well. This was _Pure Feeling_. And it was racing through him and setting his heart and soul ablaze.

There were no words, but Kakashi understood the sense of success in the rush. He had felt it to a much lesser extent many a time when a mission or attack was completed successfully. But he had never felt such deep wonder and contentment from success. He didn’t know how this was happening, but he figured it had to do with the strange tugging. Unable - and if he was honest with himself - unwilling to end the rush of joyous emotions, he lay there bathing in the warmth and stability that flowed into the core of his being, the cold of space no longer bothering him.

Kakashi felt pride come from his own soul for whatever had caused the success. Kakashi felt the joy at the feeling of finally having finally found the niche that life had intended. He lay there for a long time basking in the feelings and allowing his own uninhibited emotional responses to flow. He was sure he wasn’t transmitting; he had a great model of a logic crystal after all – top security and all that – plus his mind was trained to be a steel trap. But hours later, as he lay there warm and bone soft in his seat after the hours of bright and heartwarming feelings, he thought for a second that he felt confusion and gratitude at his pride and reciprocated joy in the mysterious success. He chalked it up to his tiredness and finally drifted off while he waited for PAKUN D06 to return with the latest data.

.-~o~0~o~-.

Iruka had grown used to the pulling sensation. But it was several years before he realized there were also some sorts of emotions coming through. If it hadn’t been for Mizuki he would have probably never put two and two together. Sure, when he had made Chunin leadership level and could officially join the Crèche Team, he had thought there was something strange that day. But he had been riding a high all day after his years of struggle to get to that point, and then with the celebratory drinks, he hadn’t actually noticed it until he had laid down that night. He had felt grateful that the universe was proud of his accomplishment, but was the emotional ride all in his head or had there seemed to be some sort of back and forth in the emotional interplay that raced through his body setting his logic crystal a fire that day?

Mizuki was the one that brought it all into focus though. Not through any overly friendly help - but because of his narcissistic focus… as per usual. Iruka really didn’t know why he was friends with Mizuki sometimes. Well he did - Mizuki and he went back to crèche school together, and while Mizuki had his faults, so did Iruka, and Iruka knew that Mizuki was there for Iruka in a way that no one else in his young orphan life had been. Even Naruto was someone that Iruka looked out for - the young Naruto could only do so much for the older Iruka. So when Mizuki complained of Iruka always being mopey and a wet blanket on the day before Mizuki’s birthday, and took it as a personal attack on Mizuki - Iruka began to pay attention and experiment.

The last few years he _had_ felt awful the day before Mizuki’s birthday. He didn’t know why, he just went around feeling like someone had killed his family again. On the anniversary of the Kurama Disaster, he felt extra awful, but that was understandable - he had lost his parents that day. But Mizuki’s birthday was different. Iruka tried for several years to see if he could fight or mitigate the sorrow. He planned happy outings and social interactions. He tried peaceful meditations and doing the small things that made him happy. He always wound up curled in a blanket, looking out of his porthole at the passing space, or at the memorial site on the ship dedicated to those lost in the Kurama Disaster, and thinking of those that had gone before and his lonely life now.

So he tried something new. He tried to comfort… himself? The tugging? The Universal Spirit? He expressed the emotion that seemed to be bottled up inside him. He allowed the grief to flow continuously through him and he let the tears come forth. When he was drained of all he could let out, he would begin a series of meditations on life, love, and family to try and bring comfort to those left behind. It seemed to help. And with a practice in place, Iruka was better able to hide it and Mizuki soon lost interest in Iruka’s strange behavior once the focus was back on Mizuki where it belonged.

.-~o~0~o~-.

Iruka had been a Crèche Chunin Teacher for a while now and loved his job. He had also started working on the Mech deck in his spare time for pocket money. Though - the way that admin was eyeing him, he would probably soon be helping with the Rules & Regs. People respected Iruka and his cheer and hard-work. Therefore, Iruka was able to single-handedly keep a lot of the people and paperwork in line. He and Naruto were still the closest thing either of them had to a family. Iruka had lost his other best friend when Mizuki had tried to use Naruto to bolster his own ambitious agenda, and exposed himself to Iruka’s wrath back when Naruto made genin. Iruka still carried the scar on his back from that encounter. At least Iruka still had Izumo and Kotetsu to occasionally go out with on weekends. 

The logic crystal still tugged at him, the direction changing sporadically. The sad emotions kept coming on the day before Mizuki’s birthday and the day of the Kurama Disaster. Every once in a while another sad or happy emotion seeped through. But the feelings were never as strong as on those anniversaries. Iruka also felt like something responded to him on occasion when he was feeling strongly. His Universal Spirit always seemed to be looking over his shoulder and encouraging Iruka when his emotions got stirred up – which - let’s be frank, was _a lot._

But today, he’s excited – he’s going to finally see Naruto. The two had attached nearly instantly at the orphanage, and Naruto had even been in one of Iruka’s first classes. But he hadn’t seen Naruto in over a year and couldn’t wait to see how Naruto’s first year in the Genin Corps had gone. 

Naruto had sent him a million vids over the last year going on about how amazing Sakura was, how he constantly wanted to float Sasuke, and how Kakashi was a lying, perverted and lazy Captain. But then the next second Naruto was going on about all the things he had learned from Kakashi and the latest maneuver that Team 7 had pulled off. The messages always left Iruka smiling and if on lonely nights he would re-watch them and laugh at it all as he sipped on his home-made engine alcohol, well, no one had to know. He enjoyed the cameos of Sakura’s smiles and inquires, Sasuke’s grunts of communication (followed with a quick respectful nod at his old teacher), and Kakashi’s one-eyed smiles along with his teasing of Naruto. All of that played in the background of Naruto’s non-stop talking and energy that seemed to permeate through the screen and warm the cold and lonely room of Iruka’s.

Iruka had been thinking about dropping by Ichiraku’s to forewarn old Teuchi about Naruto’s impending arrival, the two of them having been long standing ramen customers since the orphanage days. But the pulling at Iruka’s wrist coupled with the rising thrum of the resonance coming from it had been getting stronger all day and kept distracting him. After he made the wrong corridor turn four times, he swore and seeing how close he was to Mech - gave up and decided to check in and see if they needed an extra help. He clearly needed to get his mind going on something else, and more money is always good - especially with Naruto about to be home and eat him out of his credit count with ramen at Ichiraku’s.

He was just down the hall and within sight of one of the entrance doors to Mech - when he faltered. He tripped on his own feet and felt his breath hitch. He steadied himself against the wall, and took a deep calming breath. Maybe something was off with the air distribution centers? He’d have to ask Izumo later. While the space whale at the base of the main roving ship gave them the air they needed to breath, the distribution fans have from time to time broken down. That is when he realized that his wrist is aching something fierce. He shook his right hand trying to get the spasming to go away while he got his legs firmly back underneath him.

Shaking his head to clear the stars from the corners of his vision, and attempting to loosen the muscles in both his arms and shoulders, he pulled himself upright and continued towards Mech. He would track down Izumo later and ask about the air system.

.-~o~0~o~-.

“Kakashi- sensei?” Sakura’s worried voice comes over the com crystals. She can see his vid and read his vitals, and as the team’s medic her worried tone comes across loud and clear to all of them instantaneously. They know that no-nonsense voice of hers. Sasuke and Naruto instantly fall into the front and rear of the small formation as Sakura begins to badger their squad leader. Kakashi wonders if the two boys even realize yet that they are able to fall completely in sync during formations. If only they could sync up maturity wise when not in battle…

He waves a hand across his face and gives Sakura a small one-eyed smile over the mask he always wears, even under his helmet. (Have you ever _seen_ the filters on the air filtration system? He’ll take the extra precaution, thank you very much.) His Sharingan eye is currently shut down, doing a necessary upload, upgrade and reboot. They had just passed the Fire System perimeter and with his three genins around him, he feels relatively safe in the midst of the several hour long process. It is long overdue and the trip to The Konoha is the perfect time for the upgrade. His genins have come a long way in the last year and he trusts them to be on alert. Unfortunately, it also means that for the duration of the trip and upgrade, Sakura is on his vitals like Naruto on a bowl of ramen.

But the wave of dizziness that passes over him as soon as they cross the line into Fire Country space distracts him. The tug on his left wrist is getting stronger and also drawing his attention away from his charges. He’s coming around now, but he did feel lightheaded for a moment - too much time in the seat probably. He isn’t as young as he used to be. While only 26, he has barely known a moment or two off since he was 4. He should probably go crazy and ask Tsunade for a week’s Rest Leave when they land. 

After assuring Sakura that he’s fine, he settles in for the remainder of the trip, silently allowing Sasuke and Naruto to guard them the rest of the way while Sakura continues to eye him heavily from her screen. He very carefully and discretely keyed into the computer for privacy and ran a diagnostic on his logic crystal. All clean and fully functioning. Well at least his crystal is acting typical in being outside of what the rest of the world deemed normal. He determinedly ignores the vibrations coming from his logic crystal, but his right hand unconsciously starts to stroke his left wrist. 

When they disembark though, it’s another matter. He’s grateful for Sasuke and Naruto arriving first and being there to catch him as his legs suddenly go limp on the ladder and he tumbles the last meter to the deck. It has to be the small gravitational differences. Kakashi hasn’t been on a rig this big, artificial gravity or not, in a long time. He ignores the small voice in his head that says all ships maintain the same gravity level with various types of generators. It takes a minute for him to get his legs back under him and Naruto and Sasuke out from under each of his arms. He then focuses on calming down Sakura and reassuring the young medic of his restored equilibrium. But his mind is elsewhere. While in the middle of fighting off his genin’s opinions that he head to med bay – the world … _shifted_.

His left wrist is suddenly _burning_. The vibrations and tugging have coalesced into something that feels like lightning coursing through his veins. He loses all track of the conversation in one life-altering second and his head whips to the right. There, at one of the doors of the landing bay, is a man. He knows that it’s Iruka Umino. Naruto has gone on about him enough and had holos of Naruto and Iruka together all over Naruto’s room. Plus Kakashi had been subjected to several of Iruka’s vid messages to Naruto. (“Isn’t he amazing? Iruka is the best!”) He had even been in the background of several of Naruto’s messages to Iruka, poking fun at his most lively genin for entertainment.

But his mind processes all of that and leaves it behind in a mere second. All he can feel is the heat, the burn, the force tugging at his whole body, mind, and spirit. It draws him towards that average built man with tan skin and his brunet hair tied up on his head. The scar across Iruka’s nose wrinkles as he stares perplexed at Kakashi. Kakashi has no idea what his genins are saying or what is happening on the rest of the deck. His world has narrowed down to Iruka in the doorway.

.-~o~0~o~-.

Iruka feels like he’d gone from 50G to 0G in a split second. He knows who Kakashi is. He’s heard Naruto go on and on about him more times than he cares to admit (especially with all of his re-watches of Naruto’s vids). But seeing him in person? Nothing could have prepared Iruka for the force that slams into him when he steps into the doorway and sees Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke clumped around their squad leader. Iruka feels Kakashi’s eyes catch on his the instant he turns the corner. The feel is _electric_. The pull at his right wrist is suddenly so great that Iruka has to grab at the doorframe to keep him from falling head over heels.

He is submerged in that single grey eye and the whorl of the red robotic eye. The rest of his face is still covered with a cloth mask. Iruka feels like he is drowning in Kakashi’s soul by seeing those eyes. How can an electronic eye even lead to one’s soul? Iruka realizes his mind is babbling at about the same time he realizes that Kakashi has silently straightened up and is pushing past his still babbling genins to launch himself at Iruka. 

Iruka dazedly realizes he has left the doorway behind and is stumbling towards the silver haired man, his right hand outreached and pulling him onwards. Kakashi’s suit is still wrinkled and hair is running every which way from the hours in the cockpit – but Iruka has never seen a more beautiful sight. Kakashi’s gait is strong and firm, unhesitatingly leading him to Iruka, his left hand held out. Iruka stumbles again, his mind whirling and his left hand coming up besides his right to reach out towards the pull that has tugged at him for over a decade.

Kakashi reaches him as Iruka stumbles and their hands clasp each other, holding each other steady. Their wrists touch, and suddenly the logic crystals high-pitched whine settle down into a soothing murmur.

“It was you..” The single grey eye is wide in wonder and the tone of voice is amazed. The joy and amazement is clear as day in those three words even if Iruka can only see the one eye in Kakashi’s face.

Iruka had heard Kakashi’s voice before in the background of Naruto’s vids as he teased the wild blonde genin. But in conjunction with the electricity burning from his crystal right now, no vids could have prepared him for what that voice does to Iruka in person. He feels his legs go limp again and suddenly Kakashi’s arms are around his waist and back and Iruka’s arms are around his shoulders and neck. Their foreheads are mashed together as Iruka laughs in relief and Kakashi lets out a small chuckle. The infernal tugging and pulling are _gone_. Their bodies seem to resonate with a song that always seemed just out of earshot, but now is singing loudly through their bloodstreams.

When Iruka can finally stop his relieved (and a little hysterical) laughter, he manages to gasp out, “Where have you been all my life!?”

Kakashi gives one last mirthful chuckle at that before he leans down and reluctantly let’s go of Iruka with one hand to pull down his mask, “Waiting for my lodestone to draw me home.” 

And then they shared a kiss that Iruka never knew he had been waiting for his whole life. It sets his blood ablaze and his skin tingling. His soul soars as his spirit seems to wrap further around Kakashi. His body presses into Kakashi as his back arches and he raises himself onto the balls of his feet to better reach the slightly taller man. He can smell the sweat, grease, and oil on Kakashi as Kakashi presses back just as hard, their hips grinding against each other. Iruka’s fingers card through the silky strands of silver hair and his lips move against Kakashi’s thin but firm ones. Their breath intermingles as their tongues and teeth clack against each other trying to get closer in their eagerness. Iruka can feel the pulse coming from his right wrist that presses against Kakashi’s neck all the way to Kakashi’s left hand clutching tightly at Iruka’s hip.

Meanwhile Team 7 is left staring in shock at their old teacher and current leader trying to mesh themselves together at their very first instant of physically meeting.

“They haven’t met before this right?” Sasuke asks dazedly.

Naruto and Sakura can only stare open-mouthed.

.-~o~0~o~-.

“It’s a strange case of entanglement. You’re familiar with quantum entanglement right?” Tsunade asks the pair seated in front of her in the med bay of The Konoha.

Iruka spits out the answer without thinking, his years of crèche work coming through instantaneously. “It’s the basis of how all communication exists in the universe. With the use of logic crystals we are able to entangle particles at the most basic elemental level so that way what one experiences, the other also experiences. The two particles are forever linked no matter the distance. The information we can store in the logic crystals allows us to tap into the entanglement and communicate no matter the distance.”

Kakashi looks over at the tan man seated next to him with an expression that can only be described as adoring and amused. While Kakashi could have explained it, he would not have given the text-book response the crèche teacher did.

“Iruka to the rescue with a perfect answer as always.” Tsunade says, a smile playing over her lips. In the years of her being stationed aboard The Konoha she had met Iruka and enjoyed the crèche worker and his equally big determination and heart. “Correct answer. But somehow when the logic crystals meshed with your own individual electronic signatures – they synced up and became entangled for lack of better terminology.”

Both sets of eyes are focused on Tsunade, not missing a single word of what she is telling them.

“Did the crystals originally come from the same place?” Kakashi asks the first question, his mind already running down the road of what he knows about logic crystals and entanglement, trying to finally understand this feeling that has followed him for over a decade. His instant memory recall pulls up all the research he had done on logic crystals in an effort to understand the shift in directional and emotional sharing that started over 12 years ago. Though, how much easier Rin and Obito’s death anniversary had been to handle in the last few years started to make much more sense..

“I already filed an inquiry to see, but I doubt it as you have two very different models. For now – this has never happened, as far as has been documented at any rate. You two are in uncharted territory. Usually crystals are specially calibrated and synced up for entanglements. Quantum entanglement doesn’t just happen on its own. The universe doesn’t just pair people up.” Tsunade puts her hands on her hips and huffs at the universe’s curveball. She looks like she is taking this personally.

“So there is nothing that can be done? It just.. is? We are tied together at a quantum level?” Iruka asks tentatively.

“I’m afraid so.” Tsunade looks defeated that she has no better answer or explanation.

“What if the crystal was removed?” Iruka asks, his brow furrowing as he begins to think through the various possibilities.

“Wouldn’t work.” Kakashi speaks up before Tsunade can say anything and both eyes are drawn to the fighter pilot. “My logic crystal has been switched out three different times for various models. The-” Kakashi breaks off - at a loss to explain the tie that binds them. Finally he just gestures between the two of them, “-it just comes back immediately as soon as the new one is in.”

“Guess it’s not the crystals then. We’ll just have to find a way to work with the way things are now then.” Iruka’s voice does not sound particularly upset as his gaze on Kakashi softens. 

Kakashi is floored. His brain is brought to a grinding halt by those bright brown eyes that seem to accept all of him and all thoughts about crystals and particles are instantly blown away. His breath catches in his throat and he feels like he has lost the ability to speak. Iruka’s fingers brush against Kakashi’s and there is a feeling of tentative hope and excitement that flows into Kakashi.

Iruka breaks the eye contact by turning to Tsunade. “There’s nothing more that can done today correct?” The question is answered by a shake of Tsunade’s head. “Very well.” Iruka continued, “If you find out anything you will let us know right?” Tsunade gives a snort and dismissive wave of her hand before settling her hands back on her hips. “Well, we’ll just leave you to it then. Thank you very much Medic Tsunade.”

Iruka stands and with an inclination of his head, turns to the door. His eyes catch Kakashi’s along the way and Kakashi finds himself standing and following Iruka out the door of the med bay. Tsunade gives one last snort at Kakashi’s abrupt departure, without a farewell to Tsunade, and obvious latching onto the crèche teacher - but the gaze that follows the two men is filled with a soft yearning. She has known both of the men for a while and they deserve some happiness. If this rat’s nest of entanglement gives it to them – who is she to argue?

Kakashi stops in the doorway before turning to face Tsunade one last time as a thought of his from earlier crosses his mind again, “Oh, and Tsunade?” As she quirks her eyebrows at the last interuption, Kakashi continues, “I’m putting in for a week’s Rest Leave.” Tsunade rolls her eyes and gives an exasperated huff, but her only retort is to wave him away.

Once alone in the hall, the men stand facing each other for a moment, at a loss of what to do next. Iruka is struck for a second by the What-If of that one harried nursery adult thrusting that bundle of blonde hair in his arms so long ago – would he have ever even found Kakashi?

“Want to go get a bowl of ramen and a drink? I don’t know about you but I could sure use one.” Iruka’s eyes curl in mirth and Kakashi feels his soul lighten.

“Why Iruka, I thought you would never ask.” And Kakashi falls into step on Iruka’s right side as they walk down the corridors together. Kakashi thinks about how Minato must be happy that Kakashi is finally in the family that Minato tried to drag him into so long ago - but this time it is through the surrogate brother of his child. Kakashi and Iruka’s hands gravitate to each other, the logic crystals singing under their skin at the close proximity. Their fingers intertwine as they walk in companionable silence towards Ichiraku’s. Kakashi doesn’t know what they will do next, but he suddenly feels more grounded and hopeful about his future than he has in a long time.

.-~o~0~o~-.

**Author's Note:**

> Cheers for reading folks! One day I may go back and clean up the military aspect of this further. While I did a bunch of research into military hierarchy, combining that with the shinobi system was a bit of a mash-up. If I do anything further with this ‘verse I’ll sit down and iron it out and clean this up before I start that one. But this is the first fic I’ve written and posted in A WHILE. So if there are any beta readers out there that like my style and want to help me tackle me horrid grammar and EVER CONTINUING FIGHT WITH TENSES - TT_TT – lemme know. I have some other stories I want to do (Kakairu and Johnlock), but fair warning: some are explicit and a bit squicky (BDSM stuff). I only have one other story started right now and it’s gonna be a huge Kakairu.. TT_TT .. also considering I haven’t even finished watching the show it’ll proly be a while before that hits the presses.


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